“Now then,” Elder Molric continued, already moving onto the next lesson; “let’s focus on the Woodweave Seal.”

  His tone was almost casual but something in his demeanor made me stiffen. The vine wrapped around my neck also sensed the same unease and responded accordingly, tensing.

  “The problem with healing runes,” he explained in a somewhat disinterested manner; “is that you need a particular kind of knowledge to understand them.”

  “Wait!” I raised my hands in protest, taking a step back as I realized what he intended to do. “I can make my own wounds for practice.”

  Elder Molric dropped his hand, his frown deepening. “Oh… good. That will work too, I suppose.” He sighed. “My method would have been so much more interesting….”

  Leaving his ominous comment behind, I retrieved a small knife I’d recently started carrying around to aid me in my rune-carving practice. The vine around my neck became increasingly tight as I applied the blade to my forearm.

  “It’s alright,” I whispered to the vine. “This is only a minor wound for training purposes. It will not hurt much.”

  The vine remained skeptical but relaxed slightly as it hovered its tendrils near my arm, as if prepared to intervene just in case.

  With a great deal of care, I drew the knife across my forearm creating a shallow wound approximately three inches in length. Immediately, blood welled up from the wound; however, the wound was not particularly deep – merely sufficient for me to practice with without causing any serious injury.

  “Very good control,” Elder Molric said. “Now, use your Fundamental Rune to draw energy into the Woodweave Seal. Focus on the wound and reactivate the pattern.”

  I followed his instructions, using the energy that my Fundamental Rune had drawn into itself. As I did so, the tree design of the Woodweave Seal radiated softly as energy flowed through its branches into the new healing rune on my chest.

  The Woodweave Seal flashed with a faintly red glow... and almost nothing happened. A small number of wood fibers formed above the wound, but then instantly dissolved.

  “Hmm,” I adjusted the flow of energy, attempting to maintain a consistent flow of energy rather than the sudden burst I’d employed previously. The rune flashed again, and this time the result was even less impressive – the fibers hardly formed at all.

  “As I suspected,” Elder Molric rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Combat runes are easy for you to master because you inherently understand their underlying principles: restraint, force, and explosion. Healing, on the other hand?” He shook his head. “You cannot simply reactivate the rune and expect it to function. You need to understand the process you are attempting to expedite.”

  That made a lot of sense. I attempted to think back to what I recalled about wound healing from high school biology. There was something about blood clotting first, then...

  “Master,” Azure said in his lecturing voice, “allow me to assist. Wound healing consists of four stages: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation.”

  Images and diagrams flashed in my mind as Azure provided his knowledge. Constriction of blood vessels to slow bleeding, formation of blood clots by platelets, migration of white blood cells to fight infection…

  “The Woodweave Seal,” Azure continued, “should theoretically be able to accelerate these normal processes. Perhaps if we manipulate the energy flow to emulate each stage?”

  I nodded slowly, examining the wound on my arm. “First, we need the wood fibers to simulate the action of fibrin proteins to create a framework for the clot…” I arranged the energy flow differently this time, imagining the molecular structures Azure had created to show me.

  The rune reacted again, and this time thin, fine, wooden strands formed a latticework across the wound. The strands created a delicate mesh, similar to the fibrin network within blood clots, but composed of plant materials rather than proteins.

  “That’s an improvement,” Elder Molric leaned in to observe. “Now, continue to maintain that pattern while advancing to the next phase.”

  I attempted to do so, but as I altered the energy to mimic the process of inflammation, the wooden mesh collapsed. The fibers lost cohesiveness and began to fall apart.

  “Let’s analyse the failure point, Master,” Azure suggested. “It seems that the transition between phases has proven to be the weak link.”

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  He was correct. I had been approaching each phase as a discrete, sequential step. However, in the body, the phases overlap — inflammation begins while clotting continues, new tissue grows during active inflammation…

  “Okay,” I muttered, reformulating my approach. This time, I layered the energy patterns, allowing each new phase to build upon the preceding one rather than replace it.

  The rune emitted a constant crimson glow as wood fibers once again formed a network across the wound. However, unlike before, I allowed the patterns to develop organically.

  New fibers developed while the initial mesh was strengthening, producing depth and a configuration that resembled true tissue regeneration.

  Slowly, a dense, flexible area of woven wood formed over the wound. The area was anchored to the surrounding tissue via microscopically small, root-like appendages.

  “Excellent job!” Elder Molric evaluated the wooden skin. “Good representation of cell structure, appropriate tensile strength… although you’ll need to improve your speed. In battle, you won’t have time to create such a detailed lattice.”

  I nodded, experimenting with the wooden skin. It felt odd, but not unpleasant.

  “And don’t get too excited,” Elder Molric cautioned. “The red sun’s energy is not renowned for its healing qualities. If you’re expecting to become some sort of miracle healer, you’ll probably be disappointed.”

  “Is that what the blue sun’s energy is for?” I asked, thinking about the enormous blue star that dominated the upper half of the sky.

  “One of the attributes of the blue sun is indeed healing,” Elder Molric’s gaze wandered. “If only those accursed priests would allow me to perform a few experiments... but no, it’s always ‘heretic this’ and ‘blasphemous that’ and trying to burn me with holy flames whenever I get close...” He paused, and for a brief moment, his eyes appeared to lose their focus. “Improved containment methods... better restraints next time.”

  Suddenly seeming to remember I was here, Elder Molric coughed. “Ah, yes, well… that’s enough training for today. Practice these skills in your own time.” He waved his hand dismissively. “And go take care of that annoying brat who has been wandering the hallways searching for you. I can feel him closing in on my laboratory.”

  As I turned to leave, I paused.

  Winning the battle against Chen Wu would give me the Wind Essence, securing the last two elements needed to achieve the Wind and Earth combination required to progress the World Tree Sutra. My only alternatives to acquiring the Earth Element were purchasing it with Spirit Stones in the Cultivation World, which I lacked the necessary Spirit Stones for, or asking someone of Elder Molric’s rank (Rank 7 Skybound) for assistance.

  Given his rank, he undoubtedly possessed either the Earth Element or knew where to obtain it. The question was how to bring up the subject without revealing too much about my motivations.

  “Thank you for teaching me, Elder,” I replied carefully. “However, before I leave… I was wondering if you had any pure Earth Essence?”

  The elder furrowed his brow. “You’ve focused primarily on developing wood-element techniques. What would you possibly want with Earth Essence?”

  “Isn’t there considerable overlap between the two,” I asked tentatively.

  That prompted Elder Molric to launch into an extended discussion regarding the differences between earth and wood energies. “A common misconception! Although both elements involve dealing with physical matter, they differ fundamentally. Earth essence represents stability, a foundation, raw mineral power. Wood essence represents growth, adaptation, life energy…” He continued to expound upon the topic for several minutes, eventually concluding, “Although they can complement each other effectively, when properly integrated.”

  “So… do you have any?”

  “Of course I do!” Elder Molric sounded almost annoyed. “However, it’s not free, boy!”

  That was fair; I never expected it to be free, that would only make me suspicious of it.

  “What do you want for it?”

  In response to my question, Elder Molric suddenly hurled a collection of glowing absorption stones in my direction. I caught them, gazing at the familiar objects – they were not elemental stones, but absorption stones.

  “What are these for?” I questioned, already not liking the direction in which the conversation was headed.

  A slow smile crept across Elder Molric’s face. “Well… as much as I would enjoy running a few experiments on a Natural such as yourself, I did say I would be a better instructor this time.” Elder Molric’s gaze grew distant. “Don’t end up like my other students.”

  There was something about the manner in which he expressed that sentiment that made me very grateful that I had declined his offer to create training wounds.

  “I have given you the skills,” Elder Molric said. “Now, it is time to see how you combine everything. These stones should ensure you remain alive long enough to make things interesting.”

  He stood upright, his eyes shining brightly. “Survive, and the Earth Essence is yours. Die...” He shrugged, the gesture somehow more frightening than any threat could have been. “Well, I guess I will just have to utilize your corpse to further my research. Waste not, want not!”

  Before I could properly process that concerning statement, Elder Molric’s finger was already extending toward me. The finger left streaks of burning crimson light in the air as it formed a complex rune pattern that hurt my eyes to look at directly.

  “Try to avoid using them all at once!” he shouted merrily, snapping his fingers. “Oh, and good luck!”

  I tried to say something but the rune erupted into a burst of crimson energy that seemed to tear the fabric of reality apart. The laboratory’s meticulously constructed training space shattered like glass, its fragments dissolving into swirling torrents of red light that surrounded me like a whirlwind.

  And when my vision cleared, I found myself standing in a forest.

  The trees stood motionless, their dark purple leaves absorbing what little light filtered down from above.

  No birds sang, no insects chirped.

  The only sound I could hear was my own breathing, which seemed far too loud in the silence.

  The vine wrapped around my neck tightened protectively as we both sensed it — whatever this place was, we were not alone.

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